TM e
ClACkAMAS
P rìnt
-------- Opinion
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k
WedNEsdAy, J anuary 50, 2002
money ’Bye, Bye, ^ye’
’N Sync helps fans kiss
:
Let me just start off by say
ing that ‘N Sypc, guys, I love
you. Some people may not be
as willing to admit this as I am,
but since I am such a huge fan,
things like public humiliation
don’t seem to matter too much
Telling it like it
is.
anymore.
With that out of the way, I
also need to say this: ‘N Sync,
guys, you suck.
Oh, I’m not talking about
how your music has suddenly
changed from squeaky clean to
“dirty pop.” I actually kind of
like the new direction that your
music has begun to take (ex
cept for the swearing, which
just seems a little unnecessary
to me).
No, what I am talking about
is much more than what you
guys are doing to get fans. It
is what you are doing to the
fans. What I am talking about
are the ridiculous prices that
you are charging for your
March 3 show at the Rose Gar
den. I mean, who do you think
we all are, Paul Allen? I think
ot. I realize
lat other art
ists like U2
and
Ma
donna charge
a lot for their
shows,but it
seems a little
Elena Bory ska less ridicu
Sports Editor lous because
their fans are
older and should be able to af
ford to pay more for a ticket.
But have you looked at your
fans lately? The majority of
them are pre-teen and teenage
girls, hardly the richest class
of people.
Tell me, where are these kids
supposed to get the $45 to $ 118
for a ticket? Oh yeah, you say,
if their parents love them, they
will be willing to shell out the
cash. Well, what if their parents
love them enough to realize
that even an ‘N Sync show
isn’t worth that kind of dough,
especially since most of the
“cheap” $45 seats are behind
the stage? Then what? Well
then they are forced to spend
their weekends listening to the
radio and trying desperately to
win tickets along with the rest
of the population of Portland.
But even if somebody was
able to scrounge enough for a
ticket, there is the added cost
of dealing with Ticketmaster,
which is nice enough to add a
“convenience charge” to every
ticket purchased through them.
This ends up costing the con
sumer between $5 and $8 more
a
ticket.
But
Ticketmaster can
only add a charge
to the already
steep price set by
the
promoter,
which is based on
the price set by
the performer. So
’N Sync, this is
where you come
in: If you guys
would just settle
for less money
from each show,
you could do the
fans a favor by
letting
them
spend a little less
on the tickets. I mean it’s not
like you guys don’t make
enough off of the millions of
CDs that you sell every year.
Plus there is the additional rev
enue that is made from all of the
‘N Sync merchandise, which by
the way, comes in everything
from lip-gloss to lingerie.
So it doesn’t sound to me as
though any of you are in dan
ger of going broke anytime
soon. But maybe I’m just com
plaining because I can’t afford
to pay that much for a four-
hour show. Of course there are
always the lucky people who
can spend this kind of money
on a regular basis. But to be
honest, I question their sanity.
There are so many other things
that they could do with $118
that will last longer: buy every
‘N Sync CD ever made, pay the
electric bill for the month, buy
a new outfit or get the ‘N Sync
lingerie that they have been
wanting for so long.
That’s certainly what I’m go
ing to spend my money on.
The heartbreaking reality of children’s safety
When I was a little girl, I had
to walk four miles to school ev
ery morning, by myself, not
ever worrying about the possi
bility of being kidnapped. It is
sad to see that in today’s soci
ety parents have to walk their
children to the bus stop be
cause they are driven by the
fear of their kids disappearing.
According to the National
Center for Missing & Exploited
Children, the 2000 reports for
missing persons in the United
States were up 1% over 1999.
The total increase since 1982 is
468%. Looking at these num
bers, you have to ask your
self what is going on in.our
society.
odd places, but they should
not be scared of
leaving '
the
house without
their par
ents either.
T h e y^
I should not
I be freaked
out on their
way
to
school,
thinking
that someone might jump out
of the bushes and take them.
They should be able to walk
Maggie Jirasek
Of course, little children
should not be walking around
late at night by themselves, in
over to their friend’s house
without being haunted by the
thought that someone is out
there to get them.
Every morning, when I drive
to school, I see parents gath
ered at the bus stops looking
out for their children, making
sure that they get on the bus.
On one hand, it is nice to see
how much parents care for
their children, but on the other
hand, it is a sad picture. It is
heartbreaking to know that we
have come to the point where
parents cannot let their chil
dren leave the house withóut
wondering whether they will
ever see them again.
When incidents like this hap
pen and children just disap
pear in the middle of the day or
on their way to school, it is not
the parent’s fault and it is not
because they failed to watch
out for their kids. Children
should be able to walk around
by themselves at appropriate
places at appropriate times. We
have to ask ourselves what we
can do to change our society
to avoid incidents like this.
Guest Column
The term terrorism is used to create paranoia
When Senator Gordon Smith im
plied, through The Oregonian, that
there is a possibility of student groups
at PSU and Oregon State University
supporting “terrorism” he hung him
self on a three-homed dilemma. Sena
tor Smith is either a xenophobe, a ter
rorist, or a demagogue i.e. either he is
lying about his information in order
to create an environment of fear for
Arabs and Muslims, or he is spread
ing fear into the community to rally
support for a witch hunt, or he has
accurate information on illegal activ
ity and is grand-standing at the ex
pense of the community. Regardless
of his motivation, what Senator Smith
did is the equivalent of shouting “fire”
in a crowded theater and then refus
ing to show people to the exits.
Smith’s statement has only rein
forced my belief that the term terror
ism is absent of any meaning or value
other than to be used as a political tool
to implement a neo-liberal agenda by
instilling paranoia in the community.
Even after being confronted about his
indiscretion and given the opportunity
to apologize for toe good of the com
munity, he and his arrogant staff refuse
to entertain the thought His letter ad
dressed to toe president of PSU was
far from an apology and only served
to reinforce his original statement I
have contacted toe president’s staff at
PSU, who is well practiced in tokenism
and marginalizing students, regarding
our disappointment with President
Bemstine’s decision to accept this lame
excuse as an apology and I was met
with tokenism and then marginalized
so I am appealing to the student body
for support and I will explain why fur
ther effort on toe part of President
Bemstine is necessary to ensure a safe
and comfortable community and learn
ing environment on campus.
The primary reason why Senator
Smith should apologize to toe com
munity is that Arab-Americans and
Muslims are becoming toe objects of
racial profiling, not just by law enforce
ment, but by non-Arabs and non
Muslims in general. They should be
afforded toe same benefits that rule of
law provides for the rest of us; this is
what distinguishes America from
places like Afghanistan. Regardless of
President Bush’s disrespect for toe
rule of law, we should not let Senator
Smith drag America down to the level
of its enemies in toe name of corporeal
security. Without rule of law we are no
better than toe so called “terrorists” or
any other enemy and freedoms which
has been paid for with toe blood of
patriots is lost
Secondly, we should not al low for
fear, and a demagogue like Smith, to
create paranoia in our schools; toe last
bastions of intelligent debate regard
ing toe differences between cultures,
religions, and ideologies. The people
who destroyed toe World Trade Cen
ter did not want its occupants to be in
terror. They wanted them dead. The
reports of heroism that took place
aboard toe jets and in toe World Trade
Goiter towers are proud examples that
demonstrate not every American is toe
cowardly, self-centered, materialistic
corporate automaton Islamic funda
mentalists accuse us of being. These
brave individuals have shown the
world that it is possible to face this
challenge without fear or reactionary
politics. Senator Smith should take a
lesson from New York firefighters. If
he is not able to control his fear and
keep from spreading it into the polis,
he is in toe wrong profession and ob
viously has some personal issues to
work out- toe most important of
which is realizing that he is toe ter
rorist among us. And if it is not fear
but uncontrolled ambition that is
driving Smith to these actions, he is
still no less a terrorist but we can
add criminality to his list of charac
ter flaws.
Lastly, it is no coincidence that
Senator Smith chose Portland and
Corvallis as targets for his terrorist
attack. They were toe only cities that
stood up to toe totalitarian dictums
of Attorney General Hardy (thank
you, Mayor Katz). Arelated issue is
toe prospect that Republican Sena
tor Smith’s terrorist attack may in part
be aimed at death with dignity. Please
call Senator Smith and demand an
apology on behalf of yourself and
toe rest of humanity. His Portland
number is (503) 326-3386.
GlennMcCarthy
Former CCC Student
Also printed in toe PSU Rearguard